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Storm uproots large ficus tree in Boca Raton

Posted at 6:34 PM, Apr 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-11 21:33:39-04

Sunday's storms made a big impact in southern Palm Beach County.

Residents in Boca Raton felt the strong winds too. So strong that it even snapped a big ficus tree on the median of NE 20th street.

Jim Ricer lives right across the street and says he usually sees this kind of damage when a hurricane blows through.

“Oh my god, my heart was pounding,” said Ricer. “A huge gust of wind came down the street, heading east. Almost like a microburst. As I was looking at this tree, it started slowly falling over and split right in half.”

No one was injured, and there was no property damage.

“I was standing at the corner of this right here and it was just blowing straight through here. Everything you see here was turning sideways. This was bent way back and then that tree just went right over,” said Ricer. “I didn’t know it split to the other side. I thought it was just over here and when I stepped out behind the whole street was covered. It was worse on the other side.”

A weather phenomena Ricer like many others will remember.

The storm caused significant damage at Carlin Park in Jupiter. There were uprooted trees and it even snapped the palm trees in half. Park rangers monitored the parking lot, as branches and other debris covered the ground. They said the derbis will be cleared out by crews on Monday.